How (not!) to serve a winding up petition on a company using a default address

This case DG Resources Ltd v Commissioner for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs [2025] EWHC 201 (Ch) (05 February 2026) concerned an appeal by DG Resources Ltd (“DG”) on the basis that a winding up petition brought by HMRC (the “Petition”) was invalidly served.

Companies House had changed DG’s registered office to the ‘default address’ under the Registered Office Address (Rectification of Register) Regulations 2024 (the “2024 Regulations”). The 2024 Regulations render a default address a company’s registered office but ensure that the company is aware and has the opportunity to pick up documents sent there.

At the first hearing, HMRC relied upon the evidence from a process server, who gave a witness statement stating that he had attended the registered office of DG, that being the ‘default address’, and handed the Petition to a receptionist called Hannah who confirmed that she was authorised to accept service of documents on behalf of DG.

On the basis of that statement, Chief ICC Judge Briggs found that HMRC had validly served the petition on DG.

Since the initial judgment, it became apparent that the process server had, in fact, got things very wrong when attempting to serve the Petition. Instead of handing the petition to a receptionist, the process server instead attended a nearby Post Office in Cardiff and handed the Petition to a postal worker, who arranged for the Petition by post to be sent to the ‘default address’ by post.

Naturally, HMRC conceded that the Petition had not been properly served. On appeal, the Judge held that the Petition must be struck out or removed from the file because of this particularly serious irregularity in service, with HMRC having to restart the process.

Mr Justice Marcus Smith concluded that paragraph 2 of Schedule 4 to the Insolvency Rules (the “Petition Service Code”) constitutes a complete, hierarchical code for the service of a winding up petition, and that service outside of this code is not proper service.

The Judge applied the Petition Service Code to various hypothetical means of serving a petition on a company using a default address. He found that the personal service method described under paragraph 2(1) of the Petition Service Code cannot be used in respect of a company using the default address because the 2024 Regulations do not permit a company to have a presence at a default address, and the Registrar of Companies House assumes no responsibility to the company.

Accordingly, the only effective way to serve a winding up petition at a default address is by depositing the petition in the designated drop-box at Companies House’s offices under paragraph 2(2) of the Petition Service Code. This aligns with the 2024 Regulations, which intend to ensure that the company knows of its default address, and has the opportunity to pick up documents sent there.

This case provided valuable guidance on how a winding up petition can be validly served at a default address, and a stark reminder of the difference between the Companies House default address and a local post office!

Those looking to serve a winding up petition should be careful not to fall short of the express requirements contained in the Petition Service Code, which applies exclusively in relation to the service of winding up petitions.

As for a point of general guidance, care should always be taken when reviewing a Certificate of Service provided by a process agent. Questioning irregularities that may be present on the surface of a Certificate, as opposed to simply relying on the same, can avoid hostages to fortune further down the line.